Crossworlds
by Geofframseysbeard
Summary: I'm new here, this is a massive crossover, but they only had two categories so these are the first two to appear. Something is stirring, something ancient, something evil. Heroes from across the multiverse will be needed if there is any chance of survival.
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: I'm new to all of this, and some of the source material might be a bit fuzzy. Constructive criticism/character adjustments are more than welcome. I've also only seen up to the finale of Arrow season three so I'm keeping it vague where time is concerned.

Also I don't own any of the properties discussed here, yada yada yada don't sue me please.

"Your world is not the only one that is in danger Oliver Queen."

"Wait, come back. What does that mean?"

"If you survive this, it will be the start of something great."

Oliver Queen awoke with a start, sheets drenched in sweat. He ran a hand over his close cropped blonde hair. This was the third time he'd had this dream in as many days. A deep voice warning him of something, an overwhelming sense of impending doom. Oliver liked his threats where he could see them, well within striking distance. He sighed heavily and climbed out of bed, dropping into a cross legged seated position. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to clear his head. After a few minutes he shifted as if in annoyance.

"Barry, come on. You're about as subtle as a freight train." He said. The grinning scarlet speedster stepped into the early morning light, an incredulous look on his face.

"I am never gonna understand how you do that man." He said laughing. Oliver climbed to his feet, a jovial smile on his face.

"You ran up the building Barry, that tends to rattle the windows a little bit." He said. "Come on, Thea usually makes coffee before she leaves for work, I'm sure she left some."

Barry was seated on a stool waiting when Oliver made his way to the kitchen. He gestured to the pot of coffee before pouring himself some. Barry shook his head.

"So you couldn't sleep either?" Oliver asked finally.

"No I keep having this bizarre dream.." Oliver's full attention was on him in an instant.

"What kind of dream?" He asked.

"There's this dude with a really deep voice, I never see his face. He says-"

"Your world isn't the only one in danger?" Oliver finished. Barry sat bolt upright.

"EXACTLY!" He said excitedly. He deflated just as quickly as another thought hit him.

"Something bad is coming isn't it?"

"If it is, we're gonna be ready for it. I don't want to worry everyone yet but let's call a meeting just to be safe. Get in touch with Cisco and Caitlin. I'm going to get a hold of Digg and everyone here. We'll meet at Verdant alright? As soon as possible. You may want to grab some bags in ca-" A hard gust of wind stopped him. Barry was now wearing civilian clothes and carrying a suitcase.

"In case this takes a few days? Awful sweet of you to let me crash here."

"I was going to suggest a hotel but this works too." Oliver said with a smile. He pulled on a jacket and started rummaging around for his motorcycle helmet.

After a series of cryptic phone calls, everyone is assembled in the darkened "Arrow Cave".

"So everyone had the same dream?" Barry broke the tense silence. Around the room people nodded hesitantly.

"Down to the syllable." Felicity confirmed.

"Well not everyone…" Cisco grumbled. Caitlin shot him a sharp glare.

"Someone is targeting us then." Diggle said.

"We haven't encountered a metahuman capable of infiltrating dreams before." Caitlin said warily.

"So…" Oliver started slowly. "Normally I would be the last person to suggest this, but after what the Lazarus Pit did for Thea, is there any way we might be able to look into a supernatural explanation for this?" Diggle shot him a strange look

"We don't know what that was. We don't want to start going down that path unless we have a firm place to start." He said. Roy nodded in agreement, just grateful to be back and involved again.

"I just don't want to leave a stone unturned here." Oliver said. A dagger dropped point first into the table, as if it had been dropped from the ceiling, pinning a piece of yellowed parchment to the table. The room burst into motion, Oliver and Roy drew their bows and had them aimed in an instant. Diggle joined them, handgun drawn.

Felicity reached for the note.

"Don't touch it!" Oliver hissed.

"Whoever delivered this very clearly could have killed us already, it would be a waste of effort to booby trap the note wouldn't it?" She shot back.

She stared at the note in her hands for a long second.

"I am being watched, I can't talk at length but allies are coming to bolster your forces for the journey ahead. Trust in them, trust in the door….Signed Fate." She read out loud.

"Fate? This is getting bizarre Oliver." Diggle said

"Roy and I are going to start patrolling regularly again until we figure this out. Felicity I need you to get in touch with Ray, take Cisco and Caitlin, try to figure out some way to track new arrivals to the city. Whoever these allies are, they have some serious questions to answer." Oliver said firmly.

"Are we just going to ignore the dagger that fell out of nowhere?" Cisco asked incredulously.

"We've seen weirder Cisco." Caitlin said ushering him out of the room.

 _Elsewhere….._

"Dean Winchester, your world and many others are in danger."

"Cas? Damnit Cas, just call me, stop appearing in my dreams."

"If you survive, this will be the start of something great."

Dean Winchester awoke in his darkened room with a start. He eyed his room warily before tightening his grip on the knife under his pillow.

"That wasn't Cas." He muttered to himself. He climbed out of bed and dressed quickly. A knock at the door had his handgun up and trained in an instant.

"Come in." Dean said calmly. Sam entered, hands raised as he soon as he saw the pistol. He showed him the knife he had in his hands and placed it calmly on the floor.

"Prophetic dream?" He asked.

"Prophetic dream." Dean confirmed. He put down his pistol and went about lacing up his boots. "I'm going to put out the call to Cas. Maybe he can make some sense of this." He said.

"I cannot. I heard the same message. Which should be impossible." The gravelly voiced angel looked concerned. Dean, startled at the angel's sudden appearance, lunged for his sidearm again. He got up grunting angrily.

"I'm never gonna be used to that bullcrap as long as I live." Dean said grouchily. Sam just chuckled and walked out towards the common area of the bunker with Castiel. Dean stumbled out after them.

"So you're telling me, whatever this is managed to hack angel radio?" Sam was asking.

"It's not that simple but yes." Cas said. "It's a feat that should really be impossible."

"So I have a better question…" Dean said. "Why is it always us? Why the hell can't Bob the fucking accountant hear the voice of God for once? I could use a vacation." He popped the lid off of a beer.

"It is the best that ones with the tools to do the most good heed the call." Castiel said. Dean grunted, flopping heavily into a chair. Sam walked back into the room, an open book in his hands.

"Lore is coming up empty. We might be here a while." Sam said.

"I'm worried we haven't encountered this before. Most things with a grudge against us and enough power to break the warding around here are very dead." Dean said.

"That we know of Dean, that we know of." Sam said tiredly, moving more books onto the table. A thumping noise sent the trio running towards a desk near the front entrance. A solid gold dagger had pinned a piece of parchment to the table.

"Awh what the hell?" Dean said angrily. "This better not be witches." He drew his pistol again. He mouthed "I'll cover you." At Sam. The taller Winchester brother advanced cautiously to the table. He picked up the note.

"How far would you go to save lives? If your answer is what I expect it to be, enter the forest to the southeast when the sun goes down. Many innocent people need your help, potential allies as well. Trust the door. Signed Fate." Sam read out loud.

"Fate? Whoever this has serious delusions of grandeur." Dean snorted.

"We're going right?" Sam asked.

"Of course we are!" Dean said, already walking towards the armory.

"What if it's a trap?" Sam yelled after him.

"It's always a trap!" Dean shot back with a cocky grin. He was just excited to be back in the game again. Idle time did not sit well with Dean Winchester, despite all of his begging for a vacation.

A few tense hours passed, Sam learning everything he could about Fate. Dean sharpening knives and packing shotgun shells. Sam glanced up to see his brother carving stakes, he raised an eyebrow in question.

"You never know." Dean shrugged.

"It's time." Cas said, reappearing. They exchanged a look, Dean swept everything into a duffle bag and followed Cas out. Sam closed a book and followed after. They head for the impala first. A piece of yellow parchment is pinned under the windshield wiper.

"The journey must be made on foot. Your car will be waiting for you on the other side. Trust the door…Fate." Sam read.

"If he hurts Baby, I'll take his arms off. I don't care if he turns out to be God." Dean said. Grumbling and grousing the whole way, Dean followed Sam into the forest. A gold band gleamed dully in the reflection of their flash lights, hanging from a tree arching over the path.

"This must be the door then." Dean said, eyeing the archway suspiciously. Sam nods. Dean takes a deep breath and walks through. The forest is dense and shadowy, branches whipped at the brothers faces as if they were living things. Cas led the way, angel blade drawn. They emerge from the forest at the edge of a highway. As promised the Impala was there, keys in the ignition. The brothers and the angel remain wordless except for a few significant glances. They were dealing with someone who was very powerful. They start driving the way the car was pointed and quickly pass a road sign.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Sam said. Upon reading the sign.

Starling City, 2 miles…


	2. Chapter 2

"Rush em! Go, go, go!" ODST Daniel Thomas screamed. The Elites back away, caught off guard by the aggressive move, unleashing a withering wave of plasma fire on the embattled humans. This particular squad of Helljumpers knew that they were in a hopeless situation. They had lost contact with the rest of their platoon and immediately come under heavy fire upon landing. The human soldiers vaulted over cover and fired at the retreating Covenant forces. The squad takes cover behind an overturned Warthog.

"Sir, we need to re-establish contact with the platoon." One of the soldiers said.

"Most pressing issue is staying alive right now Cooper. Those covies are just regrouping. They outnumber us twenty to one." Thomas said. He turned to one of the soldiers toting a heavy backpack. "Time to see if that radio is any good still Smith."

"I took a shot bugging out of my drop pod Sir. There's no way this thing is still functional." She said, frustration evident in her voice. Thomas nodded. He looked around for a second frantically.

"Wade, where's Wade?" He asked.

"Dead sir." Cooper said grimly.

"Shit." Thomas replied. Plasma fire started zipping overhead again, coupled with the jagged energy lances from Jackal snipers. Thomas popped up to return fire and ducked back as the return fire almost ripped apart the Warthogs frame.

"We're running out of options." Smith said grimly. Another armored figured darted through the firestorm towards them. Heads Up Display identifying him as a friendly. The sharks teeth on his rifle identify him as a member of Thomas's squad.

"Morgan, Holy shit dude. I thought you were dead." Cooper yelled.

"I came pretty fucking close." He said. He slung his rifle and yanked the SAW off of the magnetic plate on his armor. "We gotta move sir." He said firmly.

"I know. We're gonna back up to our previous position and pray that our armor gets here before theirs does. You want to cover us?" Thomas asked. Morgan nodded. Thomas counts down on his hands. 3…2…1…The three ODST's sprinted away from cover. Morgan popped up and started spraying the approaching Covenant with the light machine gun. Morgan sprinted back, diving behind some rubble just as a grunt with a needler riddled the fallen Warthog.

"Spike in radiation." Smith said quietly.

"The Covenant doesn't use nukes, whats the deal?" Thomas said.

"Behind us. It's definitely not one of ours." Smith said.

"What the fuck?" Morgan said. A gold light gleamed off of his visor. The soldiers all turned around. A golden ring was slowly expanding, as if something was tearing the air itself. Covenant energy blasts fly around them, heating the air.

"I served on one of the Halo's Sir, it's the rock…" He gestured to the ring. "Or the hard place." He pointed at the approaching enemy.

"Charlie squad! Let's move." Thomas yelled. The ODST's started backing towards the ring, firing at the incoming enemy. Thomas stepped through, his feet going from gritty rubble, to solid concrete.

 _Elsewhere…_

"Put the bow down and we can talk about this rationally!" Shouting drew the ODST squad's attention behind them. Two men were aiming handguns at two hooded figures on top of a building who were in turn aiming bows at them. A third man in a trench coat stood motionless behind the two men on the ground. They were standing in a wide open concrete expanse of a parking lot.

"Where are we sir?" Smith asked.

"Could be Earth, could be Reach. We appear to have stumbled on to a Mexican standoff regardless." He said simply.

"Roy keep an eye on the newcomers." Oliver growled. This was far less civil than he had originally planned on being. The new group of armored people had complicated things as well. The shorter angrier man "Dean" had turned and was keeping his weapon trained on them. The armored figures reacted like trained soldiers, each one training a weapon on a different person.

"Look. Let's be reasonable about this and talk. No weapons, no masks. We all know why we're here so let's talk about it yeah?" Oliver shouted. There was a cloud of dust as Barry arrived.

"Sorry I'm late, what did I miss?" He said. Every gun in the parking lot was aimed at the new arrival.

"Fastest man alive." Oliver said sarcastically, shaking his head. "My associate will be arriving with transportation for the rest of you shortly." He called down to the rest of them. Sam and Dean lowered their pistols, the soldiers lowered their weapons as well.

"Sergeant Daniel Thomas, UNSC." The soldiers were trying to socialize with the trigger happy brothers.

"Sam Winchester, did you guys get one of those letters as well?" The tall one said extending his hand.

"Letters? We were in combat, this hole in space opened. It was that or die." Thomas said. Dean nodded without a word. Sam raised an eyebrow. Diggle pulled up in a black van and honked the horn.

"We'll follow you!" Dean yelled. They piled into the Impala as the soldiers piled into the back of the van. Diggle shifted forward in his seat and accelerated. The ride passed in tense silence, the ODST's staring out the back windows at what looked like hundreds of years in the past. They inclined their heads towards each other. Diggle glanced at the rear view mirror, curious about the gesture of camaraderie. What Diggle didn't hear was the start of a blazing argument over short range comm.

"What the fuck."

"This van is an antique."

"The van? Are you looking at the car following us?" Smith said.

"I don't know if it's the cars." Thomas broke in.

"We did not time travel."

"No one said anything about time travel. I just think we need to keep an open mind."

"Yes sir."

"We're going to be civil, we'll treat this like neutral territory until we know exactly what's happening. Clear?" He said.

"Clear sir." The chorus came back.

"We're here." Diggle said. The soldiers abruptly sat up and grabbed their weapons. Diggle unsnapped his handgun from its holster, they were an unknown still. One of the armored soldiers reached up and took off his helmet, the seal hissing as it gave way. A hard faced brown haired head appearing from underneath it.

"Helmets off guys." He said. "I didn't properly introduce myself, Sergeant Daniel Thomas, UNSC." He offered his hand. Diggle shook it cautiously. Helmets came off around the interior of the van as the rest of the squad got more comfortable.

"Private Jennifer Smith." A strikingly beautiful blonde woman nodded curtly.

"Private Nathan Cooper." A black haired man, vicious looking scar starting below his eye and ending at some point below his chest plate, grunted.

"Private Jake Morgan." The last man hadn't removed his helmet, and was busy reattaching his weapons to the magnetic strips on his armor.

"He's not social." Thomas said. Morgan grunted angrily.

"Well I'm John Diggle, we're probably running late so we can make the introductions when we get in there." He nodded towards the darkened club. They followed Diggle out of the van, breathing in the cool night air for the first time. Sam and Dean join them along the way.

"Stop staring." Smith said.

"What me?" Dean said, while holding open the door for the first few people. He glanced at Sam and mouthed "Holy shit!". Sam grimaced and shook his head. They enter the "Arrow Cave", Dean taking in his surroundings and letting out a low whistle. The ODST's stand at loose attention near the table. Sam and Dean stand near each other. Oliver walked down the stairs, removing his motorcycle helmet as he went.

"You're all here because someone wants us to be here. Someone is pushing us together. I figured we could get some answers if we put our heads together." He said. "My name is Oliver Queen."

The assembled group, talked long into the night exchanging stories. Introductions were made as Barry, Laurel, and the others arrived. Food was purchased, drinks were opened.

"I don't understand these references to a Door." Cooper said. "It doesn't make sense."

"Doorways are often used to describe passage between worlds." Castiel spoke for the first time in hours.

"Jesus Fuck." Morgan jumped up. "I forgot that dude was there."

"Cas, you have been pretty quiet." Sam said.

"I am concerned. This is beyond the power of anyone I can think of. Something dark is at play here." He said grimly.

"Well that's worrying." Dean said taking a long pull from the beer in his hand.

"You're not wrong." A new voice said. A hunched figure limped into the room. Every weapon was trained in a split second. The figure stopped, coming into clear focus under the lights for the first time. A deep blue hooded robe covered a shadow face, the figure straightening and appearing to grow imperceptibly taller.

"Who are you?" Oliver barked. The hood turned towards the emerald archer. There's a hard thump, as Barry slams into a wall behind the new arrival. The speedsters sneak attack ended as fast as it began. The tense atmosphere escalates.

"You start talking, or we start shooting." Dean said calmly.

"I speak for Fate, who sends his regrets that he cannot be here himself. It pleases him to see the recruiters assembled." The voice had a strange vibrato to it, as if the figures was speaking underwater.

"Recruiters?" Roy asked.

"Ah yes, we haven't been keeping you as informed as we should have. More will be revealed in time. You are the only hope there is at the moment for something evil is stirring…something ancient." The figure said.

"The Rot. The darkness gnawing at the edifice of the multiverse. We have only been able to keep it stalemated for so long. "

"What changed?" Thomas asked, not lowering his rifle.

"One of the Guardians fell. The Rot is free now, and expanding. You are our recruiters. We need to gather forces to stand against the Rot without drawing its attention towards our efforts."

"So you want us to go door to door or what?" Dean asked.

"That's what this is for." The figure stepped forward. Everyone in the room tensed up and backed away from the table, weapons never leaving the figure as it placed a box on the table. It reached into its robe and withdrew a piece of yellowed parchment.

"This is the Key. This is the Map. Find your way to the core world, recruit along the way." The figure said.

"Everything rides on you." The figure said. Then, the robe collapsed, whatever was underneath it was gone. Leaving the heroes with new gifts, and more questions than answers.

 _ **Authors Note: Sorry for the cliff hanger, I'm going to update soon so I figured there's no harm in it right? Stay tuned!**_


	3. Chapter 3

"It's a box." Felicity said, staring at the strange object on the table. The group had been sitting around the table for twenty minutes trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"Thank you Felicity." Dean said sarcastically. Oliver looked at him sharply.

"This is a map." Cas said looking at the parchment.

"And this is a fucking table." Dean said angrily. "None of it means shit if we don't know how to use either of them."

"There are theories, totally unproven of course, put forth by Heavens scholars. That the multiverse is arrayed in a spiral, orbiting a central 'Core' world." Castiel gestured to the map in his hands." This map proves their theories." He said firmly.

"Okay. So you're telling me that ANGELS haven't mastered the art of interdimensional travel?" Sam said. "We've traveled to other dimensions before."

"We had better things to do." Cas said, sounding a little defensive. Oliver opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. Castiel got up and approached the box. He appeared to be looking between the map and the golden box. He touched two runes carved into the top face. Everyone jumped back as the box vibrated and lit up.

"The fuck did you do?" Roy said.

"I'm going to check the rad levels. I have a hunch." Smith said, reaching for her helmet.

"Radiation? Should we be worried?" Digg asked.

"Yeah, should we like leave or something?" Roy asked.

"No. This makes sense. It's Hawking radiation. This is a Slipspace portal." Smith said in awe.

"It's harmless." Thomas added.

"UNSC F.O.F beacons coming through sir." Morgan said.

"Hold on. No fucking way." Thomas said excitedly as he lunged for his helmet. He hurriedly replaced it on his head and activated his comm.

"This is Sergeant Thomas with Charlie squad, is anyone receiving me?" He said

"This is Bastion forward operating base, Charlie where the fuck have you guys been?" A garbled voice responded.

"We had an unexpected detour once we hit dirtside. We will be en route shortly. "Thomas said. He ended the conversation to realize that the rest of the room as staring at the four ODST's intently.

"Are you guys gonna head home? If that is where this leads." Oliver asked.

"I took an oath to defend Earth and all of her colonies. Way I see it, I wouldn't be doing my job if I left now. I'm not gonna force my squad to stay with me however." He turned to the other soldiers.

"Sir, you know our answer." Cooper said, looking around at Smith and Morgan. They nodded.

"We shouldn't squander this though. This is a solid opportunity to pick up some weapons, supplies, maybe a vehicle if we can." Thomas said.

"That's risky. You guys are looking at a court martial if you get caught siphoning supplies." Dean said.

"It's a combat zone, if we get caught raiding the armory we're looking at a speedy tribunal and a bullet to the head." Cooper said grimly.

"We're going to need some extra hands to carry everything." Smith said. "They're going to stick out."

"They can just say they're with ONI." Morgan said.

"That would discourage questions." Thomas said. He looked over everyone assembled. "It's going to be dangerous. I know you don't really understand what our world is like but once you're on the other side of that portal, whoever we take needs to listen to us without question." He said.

"You need people who look military right?" Oliver asked.

"You guys will be posing as spooks. Spies." He said. After a brief debate, they settled on Diggle, Dean, Oliver, and Laurel. They took some time to acquire four black special ops thigh holsters for the people going. The ODST's handed out earpieces and their sidearms, the M6A's selling the illusion. They told Cas to open the portal in twenty four hours and come after them if they weren't back by then. With that, he reactivated the box, and after some trepidation, the group went through.

The first thing Dean noticed was the smell. It was something that threw him back to the time he had spent in purgatory. The smell of death. Then the sound. The fighting sounded distant, but it had been here recently. Spent shells and olive drab clothed corpses littered the ground. A burnt out truck laid a few feet from the rapidly closing portal. The ODST's are all business now, rifles up and sweeping the area ahead of them.

"No dead covies sir." Cooper said.

"Doesn't bode well." Thomas agreed.

Further back behind them, Diggle drew his M6A and clicked off the safety, Dean and Oliver quickly followed suit. Laurel looked at them.

"You guys know something I don't?" she asked.

"This is a war zone. It pays to be cautious." Diggle said.

"Tune to channel nineteen if you want to get an idea of what's going on." Smith called back to the group. They made the appropriate adjustments and were immediately inundated with the deafening wall of sound that accompanies battle.

"Taking fire! Going down!"

"Someone put some fire on that fucking Shade!"

"Command, where the hell are those Spartans? We requested support an hour ago!"

"Bravo be advised, Spartans are spread a bit thin at the moment. Fireteam Osiris is being retasked to support you." The situation sounded bad. Every radio contact more frantic than the last.

"Jesus Christ, Vanguard six taking fire from Promethean targets."

"Vanguard six say again?"

"Prometheans, coming out of the caves sir! Oh shi-"

"Vanguard six?"

"Vanguard six respond."

The ODST's broke in.

"Charlie squad requesting escort to forward operating base for VIP's."

"Nature of VIP's Charlie squad?"

"ONI personnel with some important intel regarding the Promethean presence."

"Classified?"

"Classified."

"We're a bit overwhelmed at the moment Charlie squad. If you move to assist the marine element north of your position, we can task them to escort you to the F.O.B."

"We'd rather not risk the VIP's Command."

"Not a lot of options otherwise Charlie."

"Acknowledged. Moving to assist the marines Command." Thomas sounded frustrated.

"I'll give them a heads up. Coordinates coming to your HUD."

Thomas stopped the group in the shadow of a destroyed office building.

"I'm assuming you heard?" He asked.

"Why is helping these guys a bad thing?" Laurel asked.

"I was hoping to avoid putting you guys in direct combat." He said. Cooper went around adjusting everyone's headsets again. "Cooper is tuning your headsets to our squad frequency. When I say drop, you drop. When I tell you to stay put, you don't leave that spot. Clear?" He asked

"Clear man. I didn't come here to get killed." Dean said. They departed again staying much closer together. The noises of combat growing louder. Heavy assault weapon fire, coupled with a high pitched whining sound, and inhuman screaming. The group arrived on top of a hill overlooking a pitched battle. A small human element was holed up in a burnt out building, firing in all directions at the approaching enemy.

"Those are…" Diggle couldn't finish the thought.

"Aliens. Like actual aliens." Dean finished.

"You guys weren't lying about the whole time traveling soldier thing." Laurel said simply.

"That's the Covenant. I need you guys to stay here alright?" Thomas asked.

"Sir yes sir!" Oliver snapped off a mock salute. Morgan snatched his SAW off of the plate on his back. The ODST's advanced rapidly down the hill firing at the Covenant. Diggle looked around before tapping Oliver on the shoulder.

"Let's find some cover." He said. Dean and Laurel followed them. They rush towards an overturned vehicle, burned to beyond recognizable. Dean sat down heavily against the vehicle.

"Where'd you serve Digg?" Dean asked.

"Afghanistan. My unit was based out of Kandahar."

"Marines? My dad was a marine."

"Rangers."

Laurel was pacing back and forth nervously. She glanced at them and finally stopped pacing.

"How the hell are you guys talking so calmly?" She asked.

"Laurel. Breathe. We need to stay focused." Oliver said.

"Don't talk down to me Ollie. Those were fucking aliens down there! I'm sorry, this is all too god damn crazy." She said, pacing again..

Dean jumped to his feet abruptly, training his handgun on a point over Laurels shoulder.

"What? What is it?" She asked.

"You saw it too?" Oliver asked.

"It disappeared." Dean said.

"WHAT disappeared?" Laurel yelled.

A flash of orange light blinded them briefly as a hulking metal figure appeared in the middle of them. It let out an inhuman shriek, face opening to reveal a glowing skull inside of heavy armor. Oliver pushed Diggle down as a flurry of energy rounds rip into the air above him. Dean started firing, heavy rounds staggering the creature briefly. Laurel started shooting at it from behind. Oliver tackled it at the waist, bringing it to the ground. He planted his foot on the arm that was holding what looked like a rifle. He jammed his M6A under its chin and pulled the trigger. A splatter of orange ichor, and the creature stopped moving.

"What the fuck?" Dean yelled. He kicked the corpse angrily. "They fucking teleport?"

"Apparently." Oliver said exhaustedly collapsing on his back. The ODST's show up again accompanied by the marines they came to rescue. The soldiers immediately tense up and bring their weapons up, searching the area.

"The Prometheans are getting bolder." Thomas said to a marine next to him. Oliver hurriedly extricated himself from the corpse and jumped to his feet.

"What was that thing?" He demanded.

"We need to move. We can talk when we get to the F.O.B." Thomas said. One of the marines approached the group.

"I'm Captain Ramos. My men are appreciative for the assist." He was a tall olive skinned man, blood running down his face from a cut above his eye.

"Oliver." He said offering his hand. "It was Sergeant Thomas's idea actually." He was playing up the tightlipped spy act.

"Right…neat job on the Promethean Soldier unit here." He nodded towards the body. Oliver shrugged. Captain Ramos shouted to the assembled marines. "Saddle up boys! We got a lot of ground to cover. We don't want the Prometheans catching us in the open."


	4. Chapter 4

The exhausted group of soldiers arrived at the F.O.B after a harrowing journey. Captain Ramos and his marines said their goodbyes and the ODST's led Dean, Oliver, Laurel, and Diggle towards the armory. Diggle was staring at a column of Scorpion tanks rumbling past.

"You good?" Oliver stopped him. Diggle settled his gaze back on Oliver.

"This is bringing back some memories I'd rather forget." He said simply. They jogged over to a drab gray building, Cooper holding open the door and waving them forward.

"Welcome to New Harmony F.O.B." He said as they filed in.

The inside of the building was a frantic flurry of activity. Soldiers jogging in every direction with a purpose. An unseen alarm blared steadily in the distance.

"Here." Thomas said. He stopped at a door clearly labeled Armory. He punched in a code and threw the door open, everyone filing in after him.

"Holy shit." Dean said. Rows upon countless rows of gleaming weaponry stretched on for what seemed like a mile. Explosions rocked the base, getting closer.

"We should hurry." Smith said grimly. Everyone moved with new urgency. Dean passed rifles to Cooper, who placed them into a black duffle bag. Another explosion rocked the building, close enough that the group felt it in their boots. Dean rushed over and poked his head through the door. He abruptly tensed up and started firing at something just beyond the door. Morgan ran over to see what he was shooting at.

"Fuck, we have company!" He yelled.

"Covies?" Thomas asked.

"Uh…sort of." Morgan replied. Dean backed away, still firing at something. A dark shape limped into view. Laurel snatched a shotgun off of a nearby rack and started hurriedly loading shells. The shape limped forward slowly, almost painstakingly coming into view. It was an Elite, pale as a corpse, with veins visibly standing out, pitch black. The body looked like it was decaying. It surveyed the room, almost like it was looking for something. It was knocked backwards abruptly as Oliver started firing at it. It stood back up, black sludge dripping from the wounds. It cocked its head and abruptly rushed at the archer. Dean shot it in the knee, hobbling the monster, Cooper put a three round burst into its skull.

"What…the fuck…was that?" Dean panted.

"Our que to leave my friend. Our que to leave." Morgan patted him on the shoulder. The team shouldered their ill-gotten gains. The ODST's stacked either side of the door, shoulder to shoulder. Diggle gently pushed the door open. The corridor outside was littered with corpses of these new undead monsters and dead humans. Three armored figures bolted down the hallway towards them, seeming unaware of the outsiders. One of them settled against the wall, grasping its thigh tightly. There was a hiss as the figure removed its helmet.

"Locke's fucking dead." A male voice said wearily.

"We don't know that." This was a woman.

"Vale he flat-lined, we all saw it. Those vital read outs don't lie." He said.

Thomas looked back at Morgan unsurely. The unspoken conversation transcended helmets, transcended words. They were comrades, they could be allies now. Oliver and Diggle moved to cover one end of the hallway, while the ODST's approached the trio. Laurel glanced at Dean.

"What are they doing?" Laurel asked.

"The right thing. However stupid it might be in this situation." Dean said softly.

Further up the hallway, the ODST's approached the injured soldiers.

"You guys are Fireteam Osiris right?" Thomas asked.

"What can we do for you helljumper?" Spartan Eddie Buck said through gritted teeth. Smith crouched down to examine his leg. She opened a pouch on her waist and opened a container of bio-foam. She stuck the nozzle of the spray can in the wound and hit the button. Buck got noticeably paler but he looked like he was in much less pain.

"We have a potential evac. It's a tad…unorthodox so I'm just asking that you guys keep an open mind." Thomas said.

"We would take an occupied Covenant cruiser at this point." Spartan Holly Tanaka said.

"Agreed. We'll follow you guys." Spartan Olympia Vale said. Tanaka and Vale hauled Buck to his feet.

"We need to move!" Dean yelled. The Spartans headed towards the hunter, ODST's bringing up the rear. The group reconvened outside. There's a brief awkward pause before Dean angrily looked skyward.

"Cas, I don't know if this works…with the whole other dimension thing but if you can hear me, now would be an amazing time to get off of your feathery ass and open the portal a bit early." He said. Dean almost lost hope as the seconds stretched into minutes. The Spartans exchanged a look, debating if they should search for their own way off world. Abruptly a gold rip in the air slowly opened.

"Forerunner?" Vale asked

"Looks like it." Tanaka said.

"It leads some place that's not here. Can we just be grateful?" Buck freed himself from his fellow Spartans grip and collapsed through the portal. Oliver and Dean began firing at more of the approaching undead.

"They don't go down!" Dean yelled in frustration.

"Focus on slowing them." Oliver said. The two of them brought up the rear, urging everyone through the portal first before backing slowly in.

 _Elsewhere…._

Oliver and Dean stepped slowly through the portal, precisely shooting out kneecaps and placing head shots.

"Close it! Now!" Dean barked. Castiel touched a hand to the box and cut off the portal. Laurel dropped the gear she'd been carrying and flopped into a seat. Vale ignored her immediate surroundings and checked on Buck. Diggle dropped into a crouch next to her.

"We can help him, he's going to be fine." He said.

"So…someone want to explain who the hitchhikers are?" Felicity asked.

"Where are we Sergeant?" Tanaka asked. Thomas gestured for Vale and Tanaka to take a seat. Diggle and Oliver moved Buck to a cot against the far wall. Once everyone had gathered back together, Thomas let Oliver explain the situation, with Barry and a few others chiming in.

"We're in." Tanaka said.

"Just like that?" Barry asked.

"We lost a lot of good people on New Harmony. It seems like ignoring this would make all of that in vain." Vale said. Tanaka nodded her agreement.

"Would someone like to pull the needler round out of the handsome Spartans leg before he bleeds out?" Buck called from the far side of the room.

"Medical supplies?" Smith asked.

"Big chrome cart." Diggle pointed. She pushed it over by the prone Spartan, Sam followed after her looking to help.

"This place is starting to look a little crowded." Roy said.

"Agreed, we probably need to start scoping out a better location." Oliver agreed. "Barry!"

"Yes?" The speedster replied.

"Remember that warehouse?"

The younger man's face broke into a sheepish grin.

"Possibly…" He said. Oliver turned back to Roy.

"Civilian clothes for the UNSC personnel might be important too. I don't see them blending in with that armor." He said.

"I'll get on it." Roy said. The Red Arrow walked out, jogging up the stairs. Dean approached Oliver.

"Cas said he's gonna take a crack at getting the box to connect to a new world. Something further along on the map." He said.

"Dean, I gotta be honest here, I'm totally in over my head." He said hesitantly.

"Could have fooled me." The hunter grunted.

"I figure we've got a lot of sound tactical minds here, we can make that warehouse into a pretty decent command and control center. But I can't picture the next step beyond that." He said.

"Pretty simple. If Cas gets the box working, we go on the offensive. You've got a lot of resources here Oliver, and no one else has stepped up to lead. We're just as lost as you are. Any decision you make is going to be better than doing nothing. "Dean said.

"You feel comfortable making a food run?"

"Sure. I'll get a list going. I'm assuming you guys use cash here?" He asked smirking.

"Dean…thanks." Oliver said sincerely. They shook hands, Dean turned on his heel and started making the rounds for food requests. Oliver sat down and took his bow out of its case. He started oiling it and checking the grip, the small routine act calming him. This was going to be a long week.


	5. Chapter 5

"What are we doing Oliver?" Diggle asked. It really felt like they were getting in over their heads. He stood next to Oliver towards the rear of the massive warehouse they had procured. They watched as the Spartans and the other members of their quickly growing army moved equipment into place all over. Hastily constructed rifle racks held their newly acquired weapons along with the equipment cases from the "Arrow Cave"

"The best we can Digg. The best we can." The stern faced archer replied. Felicity scurried into the room, followed by Thomas and Morgan carrying massive hard cases filled with various pieces of computer tech.

"Careful!" She shouted.

"Is all of this necessary?" Morgan asked. He dropped the cases next to a semicircle of gray folding tables.

"I need probably a lot more than this to set up working comms in another dimension but I'm doing the best with what I have." She said.

"You should probably get in there." Oliver said. He pointed to his ringing cellphone and walked outside. The number was one he hadn't heard from in quite some time.

"Bruce! Been a while." He answered, forcing a cheerful note in his voice.

"Oliver, I noticed the Arrow hasn't been seen in the last few days. I figured I should check on you." A stereotypically grim voice said.

"Gotten a little sidetracked recently. Come to think of it, this might actually be a Justice League issue." He said.

"We're not calling it the Justice League. Also what do you need our help with?" Bruce replied.

"This started two days ago and…just how soon can you get to Starling?" Oliver asked.

"I'll leave right now." Bruce said.

"I'll call Diana, Clark, Arthur and Hal. Barry is already here."

"We'll talk about you sitting on this for two days when we all get there." Bruce said. The phone abruptly went silent as Bruce terminated the call.

"Good talk as always Bruce." Oliver said. He turned on his heel and walked inside. Barry approached him almost instantly.

"Was that-"

"Yes Barry."

"Are they-"

"Yes Barry."

"How pissed was-"

"Very very pissed." Oliver said succinctly. He raised his voice to get everyone's attention. "Guys, we have some friends coming to help us out. Please no firing on new arrivals. I'll make introductions once they arrive."

Everyone grudgingly voiced their approval, returning to their work. Oliver donned his costume and waited outside of the warehouse. A heavily armored black car pulled slowly up to the dark building. Bruce Wayne popped the door and climbed out, already dressed in his heavy Batman armor.

"Queen." He grunted.

"Wayne." The archer replied. A sonic boom overhead indicated that Clark had finally found the right address. He levitated down slowly.

"Oliver! How are you?" He said, grinning broadly.

"I'm good Clark. Any word from Diana?"

"Nothing yet, and considering Arthur has to get here via convential methods we'll hear from him tomorrow most likely." The Kryptonian said.

"The band back together again? Feels good right guys?" The Green Lantern for Sector 2184 arrived, smiling.

"Okay, I think we've stalled long enough. Come on inside guys. No sudden moves, everyone is a bit twitchy." Oliver said.

"Everyone?" Bruce said.

"Just follow me." Oliver replied.

They come through the door and all activity in the room stopped.

"Oh god, there's more of them." Dean said sarcastically to Sam. The Spartans stopped what they were doing to appraise the new arrivals silently. The ODST's kept working, trusting Oliver to fill them in at some point.

"GUYS!" Barry darted up excitedly. "Who's excited for another team up?" He said grinning from ear to ear.

"Hello Barry." Clark said. Bruce nodded curtly in his direction. Hal fist bumped him. Oliver called everyone to assemble around the now customary meeting table. Introductions were made, Dean rolled his eyes hearing the various alter egos, but finally the Justice League was brought up to speed.

"Oliver you shouldn't have sat on this for as long as you did. This affects all of us. This affects literally everything." Bruce admonished.

"I was a bit sidetracked in case you couldn't tell." Oliver gestured angrily to the room. "I called you guys now alright?"

"After this is over, we might want to think about an easier way to stay in touch." Clark said. Dean had made his way to where Cas sat on the floor. He was hunched over the box and talking very quickly to Laurel who was furiously taking notes. Bruce wandered over to Felicity, curious about the tech setup. Barry and Hal were talking excitedly about getting a team uniform. Clark sat back observing.

"I've never seen him this worked up before." Dean said. Laurel glanced up before going right back to her notes.

"He thinks he might have found another world we can get to." She said.

"What are you doing then?" He asked.

" is providing notation on the map as to what worlds get us closer to the Core." Castiel said. Dean shot her a sympathetic look. Everyone settled on to cots for the night, trying to catch a few quick hours. Of course being a warehouse filled with various traumatized people, several are up almost immediately.

Dean snapped awake panting, to hear the quiet clink of glasses, and laughter. He gets up, and walks over to the table at the far end of the warehouse. Diggle, Oliver, Bruce, Vale, Buck, Thomas, and Smith all sit around a table drinking.

"Man, sleeping troubles seem to go around right?" He said.

"We're swapping war stories." Diggle said smiling. He passes Dean a beer, and turned back to Buck.

"Keep going Buck, what happened next?" He said

"Alright, well…" Buck said, stifling laughter. "So we get to the dropship, Covenant all around right? And Mickey is screaming at me to plant the charges. I look at the rookie -I swear to god this kid was so green, he joined us on the drop into the city- and his helmet just droops. He forgot the fucking charges. So I scream at the squad to get into the dropship. We scramble in there and try to figure out what to do. Mr. Big bad alien is literally knocking on the door but we're buttoned up tight. Romeo is cursing up a swarm. I couldn't figure out what to do so we just stole the damn thing."

"You did not!" Oliver said slapping the table.

"Oh yeah, our CO was livid. He wanted to court martial us but ONI was determined to give us a medal. They settled on a stern talking to and shifting us to Reach for a shit guard detail." He finished wiping a tear away as the laughter subsided. His face went somber briefly. "They're…they're all dead now." He took a long pull from his drink.

"We've all dealt with loss. As long as they died fighting the good fight, that's what matters. Doesn't seem like a better way to go than protecting the human race from aliens." Dean said. Buck nodded. The night went on, more drinks flowed.

"…So it turned out the wanted hacker was also the worst liar I have ever met. She almost blew our cover within thirty seconds of meeting the sheriff. He asks her name, I think she said Mulder or something like that? Anyway the fuckin sheriff had seen X-Files obviously so his eyebrow just starts creeping up higher and higher." Everyone around the table was cracking up. Dean took a drink and continued.

"Charlie ended up saving my ass a dozen times on that hunt though. Sam was down for the count and I don't know what I would have done without her. She was a good kid." He smiled.

"You guys are putting my stories to shame." Diggle said laughing.

"Monsters, aliens, supervillains, or Taliban, it's all the same. We've all got good stories Digg." Oliver said.

"I just don't understand how the hell your brother there can sleep so peacefully, if he's seen half the shit you have." Bruce said.

"Ah yeah…Sammy still manages to look at the world with some serious rose colored glasses. He has a lot of faith in a higher power looking out for us. I guess that lets him snooze a little more comfortably than the rest of us." Dean said. Finally, the liquor began to flow less frequently, the stories stopped coming. Oliver got up and poured everyone a final shot.

"This one is for Jason Todd, Charlie Bradbury, Jameson Locke, everyone who went down fighting the good fight, and for everyone going down range with us in the future." Oliver said quietly. Everyone nodded their approval and took their shot.

"Get some sleep everyone." He said. "We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow." The assembled group got up and began to file towards their separate bunks.

"Hey Bruce." Oliver stopped him. The dark knight turned towards the archer.

"Yeah?"

"If you need to talk…about Jason I mean." Oliver said. Bruce's whole body froze and slowly relaxed. He nodded and resumed walking towards his bunk.


	6. Chapter 6

"So we're all going?" Dean asked. The Justice League members had suited up fully, Diana and Arthur finally arriving that morning. Bruce had changed into his bulky Bat-Armor. A note had arrived in the morning, the same as the others. A solid gold dagger pinning it to the table.

"That's what the note said." Oliver said. He had changed into the full Arrow costume, hood pulled up, shadowing his face. Roy was pulling his quiver over his shoulder and checking his gear.

"Why now?" Clark asked.

"When has the timing of any of Fates messages made sense?" Morgan said rolling his shoulders. The room was abuzz with motion as everyone scrambled around the room, rooting around for various pieces of equipment. Sam tossed Dean a heavy UNSC issue shotgun. An energy was in that building, the kind that can only be mustered by insanely competent people preparing for the worst. After the room settled down, the assembled team stood shoulder to shoulder. There's a tense pause, as Hal cleared his throat and looked pointedly at Oliver.

"What?" He asked.

"It's your army man. Motivate em." Hal grinned. Oliver stepped up and looked back over the assembled faces and helmets. He coughed quietly.

"I don't know what's going to be on the other side of this portal. I don't know if we're going to make it back. Your most important job from here on out is to come back alive. Each one of you is experienced so I'm not going to belittle you with some pep talk. Come back alive. That's what matters." He said simply.

"Feet first into hell boys and girls!" Morgan crowed cockily. Castiel activated the portal. Felicity went around handing out ear pieces or setting comms to the right frequency. She sat back down at the desk.

"Thanks to the Wayne tech gear, we have a decent amount of power on our communications set up. I'm going to be doing the best I can to provide logistics for you guys. I'm patched into everyone with a helmet cam as well. Good luck." She said. Oliver was the first to step through.

 _Elsewhere…_

Bright sunlight seared the emerald archers' eyes. It looked like modern New York City. Central Park specifically. Bruce stepped through after him. Oliver drew his bow, just to be safe. The rest of the troops quickly followed. The Spartans and the ODST's working very quickly and clearing the area.

"Anything on local comm traffic?" Oliver asked Bruce. He shook his head.

"Nothing significant yet." The dark knight said.

Clark cocked his head, almost like a dog hearing something.

"Something is coming." He said. Diana drew her sword. Buck called over to Oliver.

"Contact, closing fast." He said. "Airborne." He amended.

A red and gold streak shattered the tense silence as it landed abruptly in the park. The shape straightened up, revealing a humanoid figure, gleaming blue eyes regarding them emotionlessly.

"Bad cosplay convention? New supervillain team? What's going on here?" The voice had a metallic inflection to it, but the sarcasm in it was jarring. A heavy whine filled the air as a VTOL aircraft dropped into a sharp hover above them. The metallic figure was joined by a star spangled man toting a shield, a black clad archer, another black clad woman, a tall blonde man toting a massive hammer, and a rather ordinary looking man. Every weapon in the clearing was brought up and trained immediately.

"Back up! Back up!" Thomas barked.

"We don't want any trouble." Oliver said slowly. "We just want to talk."

"Why the heavy armaments then Robin Hood?" The armored figure asked.

"Tony. Take it easy." The spangled figure said.

"We're looking for a Doctor Steven Strange." Oliver said. The team opposite of them exchanged looks.

"That name ring a bell Tin Man?" Dean asked. 'Tony' looked like he was flexing his shoulders, as a set of small rocket launchers came out of the armor there. Dean racked the slide on his shotgun loudly. Sam placed a cautionary hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Can we stop the pissing contest for a second? We've got bigger issues." Roy said. He gestured at the rapidly darkening skies over the city. There was a thunderous boom and the sky opened.

"Covenant?" Thomas said suddenly. "That doesn't make fucking sense."

"All the same, those are banshees and dropships coming through." Buck said.

"You know what these things are?" The man with the shield said.

"They aren't from around here." Oliver said. "We need to contain this. Barry, give us a mile or so buffer around the park. Clark get airborne, take out the Covenant air power. Bruce, we have to take this fight into the buildings, get them off the streets." The Flash took off, leaving a scorched patch of earth in his wake.

"We're going to help." The star spangled man said.

"This looks like more fun anyway." Tony said.

"Everyone saw the guy disappear right?" The black clad archer said.

"I've seen weirder." Tony said again.

"Okay, we could use the help. I'm not gonna presume to order you guys around, just fill in where you see fit." Oliver said.

"Right. Tony go with Clark, ground their air. Same game plan as the Chitauri." The shield carrier said. "Clint, go with the gentleman in the hood here…"

"Steve." He offered his hand to the emerald archer.

"Oliver." He replied.

Barry rocketed from building to building, wending his way through clearing the area. He noticed something strange in one of the apartments he phased into. A man pulling on a dark red suit of body armor in a darkened apartment. He came to a shuddering halt. He caught the baton swinging at his head just short of his face.

"If you're one of the good guys we could really use your help with the shit storm outside." He said quickly. The other figure in red relaxed and stepped back.

"I was headed that way." He said simply.

"There's gonna be a dude in a hood. He's the guy you want to talk to. You go by anything?"

"Daredevil."

"I'm the Flash." He grinned cockily and was gone again. High above the city, Clarke and Tony were doing the best they could to contain the carnage. The Kryptonian smashed another drop ship to the ground, taking a second to glance at the armored human.

"We're going to have a very serious talk about the whole flying alien thing when we get a moment." He said. He did sharp roll and fired a dozen rockets into a cluster of Banshees. The battle only got fiercer. The three archers ended up together, in the shattered front of a convenience store. Oliver fired a tazer arrow, shorting out three Elites energy shields before Roy dropped them.

"These look a lot like those things we encountered before." He radioed Thomas.

"Something isn't right." The ODST replied.

"I'm picking up a UNSC transponder signal." Buck replied.

"Help…me…" A voice cut into the already chaotic shared comm.

"Wait a minute. Locke? LOCKE?" Vale yelled.

"Vale wait a damn minute!" Buck yelled.

"Go after her. This smells like a trap." Oliver said. The archers continued pouring arrows out of the shattered window.

"Those things are getting back up." The black clad archer said. He reached back and drew an explosive arrow, incinerating the first one.

"Nice." Roy said softly.

In the park something different was playing out. Buck and Tanka had sprinted after Vale. The ODST's hot on their heels. A lone figure stood in the center of the park, gazing out over a pond.

"Locke?" Vale's voice was like a small child. The armored figure turned.

"Oh my god." Tanaka said. Whatever used to be Locke smiled. Black veins stood out against his skin. The air got noticeably colder. The ODST's arrived.

"Quite the opposite actually." A deep voice rumbled, seemingly coming from everywhere at once.

"Fuck, Fuck fuck fuck." Morgan repeated rapidly.

"Drop him!" Buck said sharply. The assembled soldiers fired at the monster. Locke closed the gap frighteningly fast. He snatched the rifle out of Vales hands, punching her through a tree. He moved quickly, too quickly. He shattered Cooper's chest plate, threw Thomas into the pond and snapped Morgan's neck in an instant.

Barry appeared out of nowhere, shattering the sound barrier with his first punch. Locke jerked back, staggering. Vale climbed shakily to her feet.

"Locke, what the fuck is wrong with you?" She asked. He laughed mirthlessly, as the rest of the soldiers moved to engage him again. Buck throws a punch as Lock effortlessly deflects another blow from Barry. The blonde hammer wielder dropped out of the sky, swinging his weapon at Locke's chest. The monster wearing a Spartans face, blocked the blow.

"The thunder god. It's been too long." The monster said smiling. He effortlessly fended off the combined attacks of the group, while grinning maniacally at the thunder god.

"How do you know me monster?" The blonde man asked angrily. Steve joined the fight at this point, blocking a heavy blow with his shield.

A throaty hiss emitted from the creatures throat upon the arrival of a new combatant. A nondescript black haired man in flowing dark robes. A bolt of lightning drove the creature back.

"It's me you want isn't it?" The new figure said arrogantly. Barry took the time to usher them away from the rapidly escalating fight.

"Strange. Once you die, the multiverse follows soon after." Locke hissed.

"Dr Strange?" Buck asked. The robed figure shot lightning at the possessed Spartan, turning to speak to Buck.

"Fate warned me you'd be coming. " He said. "The Rot is after me. We need to leave if this world is to be saved." He closed his eyes for a second. "You have the device?"

"We do." Buck activated his comm. "Oliver we gotta go. We found him."

"What about the Covenant?"

"He seems to think they'll leave if we do." The Spartan said dryly. "You might want to sound the general retreat. But man you should see this guy, he's on a whole other level."

Dr Strange was hurling lightning bolts at the demonic creature, while hovering a foot above the ground, while having a casual conversation.

"Every fall back to the park, we're leaving." Oliver's voice came over the radio. The emerald archer appeared out of the chaos, supporting Roy and followed by the black clad archer. Tony crashed heavily to earth next to them.

"Felicity, now would be an amazing time to get off of your ass." Roy said, voice sounding a bit strained. The dark knight joined the fray, throwing a jackal through a brick wall to make his entrance. Clark hovered overhead, constantly clearing the airspace with short blasts of laser vision.

"Let me help." Clark yelled to .

"What can you do?"

"How much time would it buy us if I threw him into the sun?"

"Enough."

Clark delivered a heavy punch, staggering Locke. He grabbed him by the shoulders, spun him around once and threw him. Locke caught the Kryptonians arm and they both ended up flying into a nearby building. Clark grunted heavily.

"I'll keep him busy. Get the portal open." He said. The blue clad sorcerer dropped to earth and began making gestures in the air. The man Barry had talked to earlier showed up, flanked by a massive tank of a man, and a short haired military looking guy.

"We had to fight our way here, are we too late?"

"Daredevil! Glad you could make it!" Barry appeared, smiling. Sam and Dean arrive, hot on the heels of the new group. Sam is bleeding heavily from a shoulder wound.

"We found these guys a block away, figured they could be some help." Dean said panting. He started loading fresh shells into his shotgun. A heavy thud heralded the arrival of a pale, black haired woman. Clark was still locked in combat with Locke, buildings falling in the distance. The woman dropped to her knees, clutching a wound on her arm. Smith began making the rounds of the new arrivals, trying to patch up whatever wounds she could.

"The door is open." The sorcerer said calmly.

"You guys coming? We could use the help. And it's better than you know..dying." Barry said to the newcomers. Hal, Arthur and Diana arrived moments later. Oliver shot them a curious look.

"We got separated upon landing I think. We figured the invasion was going to be near wherever you guys ended up, so we fought our way here." Hal explained. A dozen green machine gun turrets appeared around the perimeter of the group. Arthur cleaned black ooze off of his trident. Oliver and Steve took up positions acting as load master, waving the assembled forces through the portal.

"Clark, now would be the time to put him in orbit." Oliver called. A red streak shot up above the city, rocketing into the sky. It abruptly turned and arced towards the door. A battered, but victorious Clark Kent landed roughly in front of his allies.

"We should leave. I don't know how long that's going to stall him for." He said, panting. With that, they broke ranks and stepped through.

 _Elsewhere…_

"Smith tend to the wounded, Barry help the newbies get settled. Laurel we're probably gonna need more supplies. More cots at least. Take Bruce." Dean was stepping up to give Oliver time to recover, and to avoid thinking about how Sam is one of the wounded. Oliver took a deep breath and approached the beleaguered hunter.

"How many did we lose?" Oliver asked. He was fearing the worst.

"Sammy, Roy, Digg, Bruce, Thomas, and Buck are all wounded. Morgan is confirmed dead. Vale is iffy on if she's going to make it. She was wearing armor but we don't know if that's going to be enough. Cooper has a collapsed lung, he's not going to make through the night unless we get some better equipment down here. I counted two walking wounded and one seriously injured of the newbies. Felicity has been apologizing all over the place, apparently the tech gear failed as soon as the portal closed. We could talk to each other but she couldn't talk to us." Dean said grimly. He walked over to the communal fridge and tossed Oliver a water bottle. Steve joined them, streaks of grime running down his face.

"We need to talk." He said simply. Felicity had anticipated this and come up with a bit of an orientation for any newcomers. Regardless of that, they talk for hours, introductions go around, drinks are poured.

"It's kind of a tradition at this point." Oliver explained.

"So if you're also Bruce, maybe we start calling the costumed folks by their other name yeah?" Dean said. "Helps to avoid confusion."

"Fine by me." Tony said.

"Agreed." The new Bruce said. Bruce Wayne arrived back with Laurel shortly after, bringing medical supplies and extra cots.

"We've got changes of clothes and food down here just to be safe. It avoids the complications of having to host an army of people from other dimensions." Digg said, sitting down with a freshly bandaged chest wound.

"Should you be up?" Clint-the black clad archer- asked.

"I've had worse." The big soldier said. Hal and Clark dragged up another table to provide room for everyone. The night wore on, the group diminishing as people tried to get some shuteye.

"I'm curious why no one is yelling at me for answers yet." said.

"We're exhausted. The yelling comes tomorrow." Dean said wearily taking another swig from his beer.

"Fair enough." The sorcerer nodded and retreated off to a quiet corner of the warehouse.

"I'm telling you, this guy is strong. Way stronger than he has any right to be." Clark said.

"That's not Locke anymore. He was powerful even by Spartan standards." Buck said. One of the newcomers arrived at the table. His shoulder was a mass of bio-foam and bandages. Dean silently offered him a drink.

"We appreciate you being here…" Oliver said, probing for a name.

"Frank Castle. I'm the Punisher. And don't worry about it, this seems like as good a hill as any to die on." He said. The others nodded gratefully. Dean went around pouring shots again, it hadn't been tradition before but with the loss of Morgan it just felt right. He nodded at Thomas to do the honors.

"We scored a win today. There's no denying that. It seems like we really met our enemy today, and we're still here right? Most of us anyway…." The ODST cleared his throat softly. "But it did come with a cost. I've known Private Jake Morgan since I enlisted. He was always a foul tempered, irritable, pessimistic son of a bitch. But he was always there for us. You needed someone to run that sacrifice play, to throw themselves on the grenade? That was Jake. He had the chance to leave, to go back to a war that he understood, but he didn't. He believed in something greater, he believed in us. He died believing in us. He would've fought that monster by himself if it would have helped this cause. He was a great squad mate, a great soldier, and a great friend. My heart aches for the people who didn't get a chance to meet him. To Jake." He said, choking back tears.

"To Jake." Everyone chorused.

"Get some rest everyone. You certainly earned it. We're gonna be up bright and early for what Dr Strange has to say." Oliver said.

AN: There were some issues with the website not wanting to read the way I had written Doctor Strange? It was weird but it's fixed now.


	7. Chapter 7

"We need to talk about expanding." Dean said. Oliver nodded.

"We need to find Dr Strange first. He's got a lot of explaining to do." He said. Oliver had decided that skills transfer was necessary to find any weak links in the assembled force. Everyone had something teachable, and it gave them something to do.

The Sorcerer was sitting cross legged, staring at a wall.

"Dude's fucking weird." Dean said. "He was like that last night too."

"Doctor Strange. You had some things you wanted to say to us?" Oliver said.

"Ah yes, Mr Queen. You should gather your people. This is something everyone needs to hear." The bearded man stood up. He nodded towards the bustling warehouse. Oliver whistled loudly getting everyone's attention. The crowd gathered quickly.

"I got it!" Barry said. Row after row of folding chairs rapidly appeared. Steve laughed cheerfully.

"I am never going to get tired of seeing that." The first avenger said.

"It is indeed like I am on Asgard." Thor said. The crowd grew quiet as everyone took their seats. Everyone's attention was locked on the robed man.

"My name is Stephen Strange. A long time ago, I was given powers to fight the occult that threatens my world. Through a rather complex series of events I was awarded a seat on the council of Guardians. We are tasked with keeping the Rot contained. As you can see, we're not doing the greatest job." He chuckled nervously. "I believe I am one of the last guardians left living. The Rot broke free and began killing us. I understand that my colleague Doctor Fate was coordinating your response here."

"If by coordinate you mean dumbass vague knife-o-grams" Diggle said. "Then yes."

"Yeah. He's never exactly been straight with us." Thomas said.

"He is a fan of the theatrical." The sorcerer said. "He is on the front lines as of right now, otherwise he would be much more direct."

"What front lines?" Frank Castle asked.

"THE front lines Mr Castle. The only ones that matter. He is with every surviving Guardian on the Core world. He is shoring up the defenses for the eventuality that the Rot finds the core. You are the last line of defense. We will be busy with the Rot itself, we need your people to fight the infantry war with the infected."

"So we're doing your dirty work." Matt Murdock said. "That doesn't sit right with me."

"You do know what the stakes are don't you Daredevil?" Batman spoke for the first time. "This isn't just about your world. This is about every world that exists, has existed, or ever will exist."

"Settle down. He's not done." Oliver barked.

Strange nodded gratefully at the archer. He took a deep breath and continued talking. "We don't like it any more than you do. But the Rot's tactics have evolved. It has gone from sending champions to probe our defenses, to building an army. We can't fight both and if we lose, everyone loses." He said.

"I understand that. I don't like it but I understand it." Daredevil muttered.

"I will be teaching the angel how to properly use the Key, and then I will be leaving to assist my comrades." The sorcerer finished. The group got up and went about their day, Barry stacking the chairs in an instant.

"How is she?" The Avengers resident archer drifted over to the ODST medic.

"She's in and out of consciousness. Clint, I'm doing everything I can." Smith said. His shoulders sagged, he dropped himself down into a chair next to the wounded Black Widow.

Matt went back to the training area and picked up sparring with Laurel, and Cooper. Frank, Dean, and Digg were inventorying the armory and swapping notes. Bruce Wayne, Bruce Banner, Tony, Barry, and Felicity were in the process of completely overhauling the computer system. People were lounging or working out. It was a well-earned day of rest. Oliver thought this was a good opportunity for the new people to shake down, to feel a part of things. He stopped by the makeshift infirmary in one corner of the warehouse.

"It's gonna be a while before I'm back in fighting shape." Roy rolled his shoulder experimentally as Oliver approached.

"Roy Harper! I swear to god if you pop those stitches I will let you bleed out!" Smith called from her place tending Vale. Roy stopped moving his shoulder abruptly.

"She frightens me more than those alien zombie things." He said. Oliver smiled, sitting down next to the cot.

"How are you feeling?" Oliver asked.

"Well that needle thing produced something she called micro shrapnel. So she basically had to make hamburger meat out of my shoulder to get it all out. I've been better." Roy settled back onto his cot, wincing.

"You rest up okay? Don't push yourself. If she clears you to leave, maybe go spend some time with Thea." Oliver said.

"She called you I'm guessing?"

"I have fifty very angry voicemails." Oliver said wryly. Roy laughed and then winced again. Oliver nodded and got up. He walked over towards Clint.

"How is she?" He asked. The other archer jumped as if startled.

"Oh..uh she's good. She's been in and out."

"You guys are close?"

"Yeah. I'd never let Tony hear it but these guys are probably as close to friends as I have right now. It always hurts to see your friends like this you know?" He cleared his throat.

"I'm a little new to the whole team system but I understand. What's her name?" Oliver asked.

"Her name is Natasha." Clint said.

"Natasha is going to be fine." Oliver said firmly. "We have a range set up outside if you need to blow off steam."

"Thanks man. I think I'm going to hang here until she wakes up." Clint said. Oliver drifted back towards the center of the warehouse, checking in on various groups as he walked.

"Are we sure he's blind?" Cooper panted, leaning against a punching bag in the sparring area. Laurel wiped sweat off of her forehead before rushing back in. Two quick blows later, she was on her back again.

"I can track you by your heartbeat, the sound your clothes make when you move, even your breath." Matt said calmly. Cooper steadied his breath and waited for Laurel to get up. They both attacked together, Laurel throwing a vicious kick at Matt's stomach, Cooper swinging at his head. Matt caught Laurels foot throwing her backwards, Coopers punch landed but Matt responded with a vicious kick to the knee. The bout ended the same as the first one with Daredevil standing victorious.

"You guys are good." He said helping them both to their feet.

"Matt here has been fighting like nothing but Ninjas for the last six months, so don't take it too hard." A pale black haired woman said from outside the ring.

"Jessica." Matt greeted. "How's the arm?"

"Hurts pretty damn bad. I'll live though. I heal fast."

"I guess the six pack convention is in town." Felicity said rolling out from beneath the expanding computer station. Bruce Banner shot her a weird look. Bruce Wayne just kept working on one of the screens.

"That was out loud wasn't' it?"

"We definitely talked about this Felicity." Barry said laughing.

"I got distracted by…that!" She gestured toward Arthur, Hal, Steve, and Diana taking advantage of Oliver's extensive workout set up. Aquaman was cranking out pull ups with a dozen cinderblocks attached to his ankles.

"Is she always like this?" Tony asked

"Today is a good day." Bruce Wayne grunted.

"Okay..that…should…do it!" Felicity smiled broadly. Three screens flicker to life, running diagnostics.

"Full tactical readout, coupled with the most powerful transmitter we have means we shouldn't lose our eyes next time we take a trip." Barry said.

"Everyone is getting WayneTech bio-readouts at some point, I'm going to have to venture back to Gotham but you should be able to track our vitals once we get everyone hooked up." Bruce Wayne said.

"We are absolutely exchanging R and D people for a month once all of this is over." Tony said.

"Only if you can get me a sample of that alloy Steve's shield is made of." Bruce Wayne said.

"I would give you a kidney if it would help." Tony laughed. The scene in the workout area was worsening. Thor had wandered over, and now the Asgardian and the King of Atlantis were engaged in a vicious arm wrestling match.

"How the hell am I supposed to get any work done here?" Felicity muttered to herself. "The testosterone fog is overwhelming."

Dean, Digg, and Frank, were all sitting around a folding table in the makeshift armory, laughing when Oliver arrived.

"This guy is a freakin riot!" Dean said clapped Frank on the shoulders. The Punisher was allowing himself a rare smile.

"Yeah well…it's nice to be around my kind of people again." He said.

"That transition to civilian can be a bit rough yeah. I can't even imagine how it's gonna be retiring from the vigilante gig." Digg said.

"Let's just focus on this first. I will be the first to attend your retirement party if we make it to the end of this." Dean grinned.

"You need something Oliver?" Digg asked.

"Besides a vacation?" Oliver asked jokingly.

"Burdens of command getting to you, oh dear leader?" Dean asked.

"Just logistics. We have to count on our numbers increasing right? We might have to move again." Oliver said, settling into a chair and rubbing his brow heavily.

"Housing an army undetected in a city is a heavy ask." Frank said.

"I still have issues wrapping my head around the word army." Oliver said.

"How are the ODST's doing?" Digg asked.

"They grieve in their own way according to their sergeant. Some kind of private thing." Oliver said.

Oliver left them to their conversation with that, heading to his bunk. He flopped down heavily, desperate to catch a few needed hours of shuteye. He slept harder than he has in his entire life.


	8. Chapter 8

"God fucking damnit!" Oliver came out of the portal shouting angrily. He kicked a table over. A crowd began to form slowly. The away team limped away from the rapidly closing portal. Clint slumped down wearily. Frank clutched a weeping leg wound and slumped down next to him.

"What the hell happened?" Clark asked the exhausted group. Felicity was busy coordinating a second mission, Barry peering over her shoulder.

"Chiron had left already when we got there. But the kid Strange wanted us to retrieve…"

"Where is he?" Diana asked. Oliver's face darkened. Bruce Wayne placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head tightly. The crowd continued to gather, drawn by Oliver's initial outburst.

"Sixteen. He was sixteen Diana." The emerald archer said. He dropped his quiver and set his bow down. He walked off without another word. Dean stepped up, raising his voice.

"We still have another active mission going people. Someone help Smith get these two to the infirmary. Clark get the heavy hitters organized, team two might still need you guys." He said.

"That might be sooner rather than later guys." Felicity said. The ops center on her desk was alive with the crackling of energy weapons discharge and frantic shouting.

"Laurel is on that team isn't she?" Dean asked. Barry nodded. "Fuck. I'm going after him." He turned on his heel and jogged after Oliver.

"Man Down! Man Down! We need a fucking extraction right now." Thomas was shouting.

"Stand by. Portal opening now." Felicity said, gesturing at Castiel. A dozen weapons trained on the slowly opening golden portal. Thomas and Cooper came through first, supporting a limp blonde form between them. Sam and Steve came through, flanked by a dozen armored figures. Smith had returned from stabilizing Frank in the infirmary.

"Shit! Laurel." She said, she dropped to her knees and checked her vitals. "What happened?" She demanded. Thomas dropped into a crouch next to her.

"Plasma shot, or something similar. Near as I can tell it was a through and through. Fucking third degree burns all over. Portal dropped us into a warzone." He said. There's a heavy clack of armor as one of the newcomers crouched down next to them.

"How can I help? RC-1136, I've had some medical training." A heavily filtered voice said. Without a second look, Smith passed him a roll of gauze bandages, and a can of bio foam.

"Jam the nozzle there. Squeeze." She pointed. "Bandages go on top." The soldier nodded. Laurel let out a pained scream and tensed.

"Sarah…" Her eyes focused on something over Smith's shoulder.

"Ah Christ." Sam turned away.

"Why…where's mom?" Laurel mumbled. "Cold…" Oliver came back, hot on Deans heels. He stopped dead at the sight before him.

"There's too much…" Smith took her helmet off and tossed it aside. She ran a hand through her hair.

"Let me see her! God damnit! Let me fucking through!" Oliver was struggling with Dean.

"Ollie?" Laurel asked. Her face contorted again. Oliver punched Dean and pushed his way through.

"Laurel I'm here."

"Hurts…" She whimpered softly. "It hurts Ollie.."

"You just lay here okay? I'm gonna go see about getting you a blanket alright?" He said, trying to smile. Her hand lashed out and gripped his tightly.

"Don't…go." Her eyes went wide. Her breath was coming more rapidly. "Ollie I'm scared." She said. Oliver's breath caught in his throat.

"I'm not going anywhere. You're going to be okay. I'm here Laurel." He said quietly. Smith grabbed his shoulder. She gestured to keep pressure on the more damaged area. Oliver put weight on the wound. Laurels grip went slack.

"Fuck." Smith said. "Fuck. One…two…three…" She started on CPR. Oliver sat back, staring blankly at the scene before him.

"Dean! Crash cart!" Dean pushed the silver cart over to Laurels prone form. He passed the defibrillator paddles to Thomas.

"Get her shirt open." He told RC1136. The armored soldier ejected a blade from his knuckle and cut her shirt open. He took the paddles and placed them as instructed.

"Charging." Dean said. Smith stopped CPR and backed off. Oliver hadn't moved. For him the world had narrowed down to this scene. He got up suddenly and headed towards the bunk area. Strange was sitting cross legged on the floor. Oliver bodily hauled him to his feet.

"Help. Her." He gritted out.

"Death is sadly beyond my powers Mr Queen." The sorcerer said. He looked past Oliver, his expression softening. "I'd suggest you go say your goodbyes. Ms Lance is not long for this plane of existence."

Oliver shoved Dr Strange back a step. He stumbled back toward Laurel. Smith stood up.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fucking Fuck! God Damnit!" Smith kicked over the crash cart. She ran a hand through her blonde hair. She kicked the cart again, denting it. She strode quickly for the infirmary. She passed Oliver, stopping briefly and looking at him like she wanted to say something but she looked away.

"Where the hell are you going Jenn?" Thomas asked.

"I have patients I can still help." Smith said. Clark came and ushered the armored soldiers to a set of empty bunks.

"Barry." Clark said.

"On it." The Flash said. A dozen footlockers appeared near the open bunks. Oliver hadn't moved an inch through all of this. He started into motion again, dropping to his knees next to Laurel. Strange placed his hand on the archers shoulder. Oliver jumped up, throwing a punch. Strange easily ducked it and continued dodging the follow up blows. Dean watched the whole scene with a strange detachment. Strange caught his eye and stopped dodging. Oliver caught him in the jaw, sending the sorcerer spinning. He followed him to the floor and kept punching.

"This is your fault! This is your fucking fault! "He shouted. He beat the sorcerer until his face was a bloody pulp. He rolled off of the other man and collapsed exhausted. Dean helped the archer up, half walking, half dragging him to his bunk. He dropped him heavily and pulled a blanket up to his chin. He went back for a bottle of Oliver's favorite vodka, leaving it at his bunk.

"You're gonna want this later man." He said. Oliver was staring blankly at the ceiling. He made no acknowledgement of Dean's presence.

The hunter walked back towards Laurels body. Strange waved a hand over his face, healing the damage.

"He needed that. I've been doing this a fair bit longer than Oliver and I guess I'm more used to it than he is. I've lost more friends than I care to admit. I hate it but you get kind of numb after a while." Dean said.

"You were pretty messed up about Charlie dude." Sam said.

"That's different." Dean replied. "Everyone has someone who feels immortal. Like they're always going to be there. But in this line of work…"

"No one is immortal." Batman finished simply.

"Help me with her Bruce." Dean said. Aquaman and the Dark knight both started forward.

"Someone is gonna have to tell her old man." Hal said.

"I'll do it." Bruce said. "He hates me a little less than Oliver."

They lifted her onto a stretcher and walked her upstairs. Bruce left and came back in a slightly rumpled suit, as Arthur and Dean set down the stretcher outside.

"He's on his way." Bruce said simply. Arthur went back inside, Dean shifted awkwardly and looked at Bruce.

"You want me out here?" He asked.

"He doesn't know you. He knows me, he's also probably gonna start throwing punches. You don't want to be here." Bruce said.

"Does he know you're Batman?"

"No. But if the world ends none of that is going to matter right? I figured I can talk to him a little easier if he knows the truth. It's a calculated risk." Bruce said.

Dean nodded and headed back into the warehouse. Bruce adjusted his tie and calmly waited.

Back in the warehouse, the new soldiers were having a rapid conversation on short range comms. Republic Commandos are rarely thrown, but this was something no training manual could prepare them for something like this.

"Dar, thoughts on what's going on?"

"Sarge, I could not tell you even if I tried. They saved us, and it seems like they lost one of theirs doing it."

"What was up with those Super Battle Droids? I've never seen them shrug off anti-armor like that."

"I thought the alien monster things were more worrying Corr."

"I've seen uglier Atin." Corr responded.

"I swear if this is another joke about my scar…" Atin replied.

"This is Niner, checking in with all squads, let's see what we have munitions wise." Omega squad's sergeant called out.

"Sarge, we've got about twenty mags, eighteen anti-armor rounds, twenty sniper mags and twelve thermal dets, plus Darmans bag of tricks coming from Omega squad." Corr said.

"Boss here. Delta's got about the same. Sev has a concussion rifle, with about a dozen shots. Fixer has a slicing kit with him. Scorch has his own bag of tricks. He's also got a collapsible plex." Delta squad's leader said. A colorfully armored hand patted a matte black case.

"Ordo here, The Nulls have as much as we could carry. We've got a couple hundred mags, a mini repulsor lift, heavy weapons, I even think Jaing has a vibrosword."

"We were evacuating." Scorch said.

"Your point?" Mereel-another Null- asked.

"I'm just saying-"Scorch said.

"Bad idea brother. Abort. Abort now." Corr said.

"It's odd that-" Scorch kept digging.

"We secured mission vital equipment. We grabbed what we needed to operate effectively in a situation we had not evaluated." Jaing said all ice.

"Bunch of weirdos…" Scorch muttered.

"Comm is still open son." Niner said.

"I knew that!" Scorch muttered, laughing nervously.

"Incoming guys." Darman warned. Dean approached the group of soldiers. They all straightened up abruptly.

"Hey guys, I'm sorry about everything. Laurel was pretty well liked around here." He said. A dozen helmets bobbed knowingly.

"We talked to her briefly when your team showed up. She uh…she seemed like a decent girl. " Niner said awkwardly.

"Did they tell you anything about why you guys were here?" Dean asked.

"Something about saving the universe, then these monsters showed up. Cut through the platoon we linked up with like tissue paper." Fixer said.

"This is gonna sound crazy but we came from another world. We were sent by a…higher power to come retrieve soldiers to help us. We need you, and anyone else you guys can muster." Ordo rattled off.

"Photographic memory." Mereel said, noticing Deans weird look.

"That's…creepy. Look I'll send someone over to talk to you guys once we've handled this okay?" Dean said. "Ask anyone if you guys want food, liquor, whatever." He turned to go talk to the Justice Leaguers clustered around Felicity's desk. "I swear to god, we need a freakin orientation video or something." He muttered.

"How's Oliver doing?" Sam asked.

"He's a wreck." Dean said simply.

"We all are." Barry said. He looked pale. The Avengers had gathered around the table as well. The mood in the entire building was somber, like someone had sucked the air out of the room.

"I hate to do this, but we gotta start talking about our next step." Dean said. Steve and Sam both nodded immediately.

"We need another target from Strange, and we need a way to stop that fucking monster if he shows up again." Thomas said.

"Was he there?" Dean asked.

"Not this time, but we felt him…watching us I guess? It just felt off. From the start." He said.

"Why? It doesn't make sense." Clarks white knuckle grip was bending the edge of the table.

"He's testing us." Clint said. "Going for the weak links, trying to demoralize us."

"I don't like being tested." Tony said. "We need a way to hit him back."

"That's something I can get behind." Diana said.

"I think keeping our heavy hitters in reserve was a bad idea. I think we need to keep one with any away team. To make sure this doesn't happen again." Hal said, clearing his throat loudly.

"I hear that." Dean said nodding. Diggle was staring off into space, cradling a drink.

"I just can't believe…I need to get some air." Felicity got up from her chair and left.

"Look, Digg has the right idea. We need to take tonight recover, come at this fresh tomorrow. Who is up for some very heavy drinking?" Dean asked.

"I'm in." Bruce Wayne said. He was coming down the stairs, suit dirtied, with a fresh black eye. "Detective Lance is going to make sure she gets a proper burial."

"You Winchesters really like your liquor." Clark said.

"I find it's an integral part of the grieving process." Dean said.

"That's our dad talking." Sam said.

"Well he wasn't wrong." Dean said. "C'mon who's in?" He rummaged through a crate and started pulling out shot glasses. Everyone at the table took a glass as Dean went around pouring shots.

"Where's Arthur?" Diana asked.

"I sent him back to deal with the new guys." Dean said

"I still disagree with flannel shirt being the leader here. However this is a plan I can get behind." Tony said lifting his drink.

"Can I?" Roy had wandered over from the infirmary, shoulder still a swath of bandages.

"Of course." Dean poured another drink. Diggle coughed loudly.

"Uh…well I never thought we'd have to do one of these for Laurel. The new folks might not know this but we uh…we lost another Black Canary, a few years ago. Laurels sister. Man…I just…I thought we were done burying members of the Lance family." Diggle said, voice cracking sharply.

"What was her sister's name man?" Dean asked.

"Sarah. Her name was Sarah." Roy said.

Hours passed, the group got drunker, and the stories flowed more quickly than the alcohol.

"…and she's just lying there with a dart in her neck, high as a fucking kite. Oliver drags her back to Verdant more pissed than I've ever seen him. She thinks he's Sarah, starts screaming her god damn head off. She…She was always chasing Sarah, even after Sarah died…" Diggle trailed off suddenly, and downed another shot.

"Jason was the same way. He hated being compared to Dick. Of course Dick didn't also have to live in Barbara's shadow that whole time." Bruce broke in suddenly. His gaze was fixed on the amber depths of his glass.

"Didn't he challenge Nightwing to a sparring match?" Barry asked.

"Yeah" Hal laughed. "Dick kicked the bejesus out of him."

"Didn't Laurel take a swing at Dick too?" Roy asked.

"Yeah and she put up more of a fight." Diggle said. Bruce shot him a look.

"Dick was just very good at winding Jason up. He had a temper." The dark knight replied.

"Sounds like you guys really cared about them." Steve said.

"You guys are a team right? You understand." Roy said.

"More than that, we're fighting a war. You lose people fighting a war" Dean said.

"What's your point Dean?" Sam asked.

"It's like dad always said you know? Grief is a luxury for civilians." Dean said simply.

"This conversation explains so many things." Thomas chuckled. He tilted his head and downed another shot.

"How's Jennifer holding up?" Dean asked.

"She blames herself. She's not doing too great, trying to focus on her other patients right now." Cooper said.

"Vale is circling the drain." Hal said. "The Spartans have all been with her all day."

"I am going to throw Locke into the god damn sun." Clark said quietly.

"Clark." Diana said warningly.

"No. He is beyond saving, he needs to be put down." He said.

"No one is disagreeing with you. We still need to be smart about this." Bruce said.

"We're all exhausted alright? We've got shit to do tomorrow. I'm doubling our training. I'm also going to talk to Strange about missions. We need to keep people busy." Dean said.

"To Laurel and Sarah. They died doing the right thing. They died heroes." Diggle said. The group chorused "Heroes." and downed their drinks. Dean collapsed the table, and gathered the glasses. Everyone, slightly drunker, shuffled towards their bunks.

"Felicity hasn't come back yet." Barry said.

"Give her time." Dean said.

"What about Oliver?" He asked.

"He'll recover. He has to." Dean said.


	9. Chapter 9

-Hey everyone! Had a lot of personal stuff happen, kinda had to tend to that before I could continue. It's taken a long time but everything is finally settled. So here is Chapter 9!

"This fucking crossbow is going to drive me nuts." Roy growled to himself, wincing as the stock kicked against his injured shoulder. The bolt hit the center of the target with a dull thump. It had been three days since Laurel had died. Roy still didn't like thinking about it. He couldn't think about it. Oliver had warned everyone when this had started, that this was probably going to get really bad. Roy had no idea at the time how right that was. The new guys had avoided most people. They weirded Roy out to be honest, all of their faces were exactly the same.

"How's the shoulder Roy?" Clint Barton walked up, flanked by a newly recovered Black Widow. The archers had become fast friends, but Clint had refused to leave Natasha's side since the assassin had opened her eyes. She was leaning on his shoulder pretty heavily, still kind of unsteady on her feet.

"Painful. I can use it now at least. Jennifer said if she catches me drawing a bowstring, she's going to strangle me with it." Roy laughed.

"She's pretty strict with her patients." Natasha agreed, smiling.

"Glad to see you back on your feet." Roy returned her smile.

"I've been telling Nat how great it's been to be able to talk over the finer points of combat archery with someone who can actually draw a bow with a bigger weight than fifty pounds." Clint said brightly.

"You still need to help us replicate some of your trick arrows." Roy said.

"Speaking of that, how is Oliver doing?" A bit more serious of a tone crept into his voice.

"He's still a zombie. He only leaves his bunk to piss or get more liquor." Roy said grimly.

"He's a good guy. No one deserves to see someone they care about die like that." Clint said.

"The commandos are probably one of our better assets. That's a lot of military experience to fill in for our…losses." Dean was holding a command staff meeting. Sam Winchester, Steve Rodgers, John Diggle, Eddie Buck, Bruce Wayne, and Niner, were representing their respective outfits.

"We'll do what we can, but our first concern is the Republic. You guys did pull us out of one war into another." Niner said.

"You do understand that if we don't stop this, you won't have a republic to go back to?" Bruce Wayne shot back angrily.

"I've got brothers back there sir. Comrades. Some of us have loved ones." Niner replied.

"We all do." Steve said, speaking for the first time during this meeting. "Clint had a wife in our world."

"I'm sorry." The clones face was concerningly boyish, looking around the table. "I didn't know."

"Regardless. We have no reason to think these higher power types are going to let us leave until this is over. Even if they did, the Rot isn't just going to go away." Dean said.

"Let's table that for now." Sam said. "We need to talk about this plan of yours."

"Right. What I'm proposing is a trip to our home universe to consult with a friend of ours. Bobby Singer. We have a lot of lore stocked up and odds are some of it pertains to dimensional traveling. Maybe some mention of the Rot. We're playing a game where we don't know the rules. I think it's about time we change that." Dean said.

"Cas says it's doable. He says we should keep as much of this quiet as possible though when we talk to him." Sam said.

"Why is there a question about this being doable? Doesn't that box make it easy?" Steve asked. Sam and Dean exchanged an uncomfortable look.

"Bobby…isn't alive right now. We'd be taking a lateral step into our universe, but going a few years back as well." Dean said.

"Time travel?" Buck asked. "What am I saying? I'm fighting a war for the damn multiverse. Okay. Time travel." The Spartan finally just nodded and took a heavy drink from a water bottle.

"We're going to put together a team and head out as soon as possible. Since Sam and I are both going, we're going to be leaving Clark in charge. Any objections?" Dean asked.

"Who's the team so far?" Steve asked.

"You, the ODST's, Barton, and Harper." Dean said.

"I'd recommend a second team holed up somewhere, just to be safe. I mean we have the manpower now." Bruce said.

"Okay. Who has ideas for team two then?" Dean asked. He leaned back in his seat exhaustedly. Having multiple seconds in command certainly took the strain off of him, but it was painfully bureaucratic at times.

"I'd suggest some of the commandos, give them a chance to shake down." Buck said. Niner nodded thoughtfully.

"I'll run it by my squad." He said simply.

"We'll throw in Arthur and Diana. They've been anxious for some action." The dark knight said.

"Niner we leave as soon as we can get the supplies together so go ahead and speak to your boys." Dean dismissed the commando with an authority he was very uncomfortable that he had.

"Alright then. Any further business?" He asked the assembled group.

No one had any further business so the group went their separate ways. Dean and Sam went to go notify the team they would be taking. Niner went to go speak to his squad, passing by several prefabricated walls that were in the process of being put up. Bruce Wayne, with considerable help from Tony Stark and Bruce Banner had thought of the idea, partially to protect the privacy of an increasing number of female team members, and partially to add a sense of order and discipline that the outfit desperately needed.

"What was that about Sarge?" Corr greeted Niner as he returned to the commando's block of bunks. The Republic soldiers rapidly gathered around him.

"Well, it looks like we won't be going home just yet lads. Dean there seems to think that the powers who brought them here aren't going to let us leave until this job is done." He said.

"Why are we listening to them again?" Boss asked. Niner rubbed a hand across his eyes.

"They're friendly as far as we can tell. They also have the special teleporting box thing." He said.

"Why can't we just get home using that?" Jaing asked curiously. The ARC trooper was laying on a bunk, sharpening his vibrosword.

"I think the working theory is that if we do leave, something yanks us back." Niner said. Ordo nodded thoughtfully. Niner went on. "They do want something in return for the room and board. They have an op coming up that they want us to pull security for. If you guys are willing, I volunteered Omega."

"Better than sitting around here." Atin grunted.

"If there's nothing we can do to hasten us getting back then I'm going to have to agree. It's the least we can do." Darman said.

"We'll stay here. Keep an eye on things." Boss said. Niner nodded agreement.

"Find out what you can about our hosts." Niner said quietly. The clones fell silent as Dean approached, wearing a bulletproof vest over a black t-shirt.

"You guys coming?" He asked. Niner nodded. Omega squad began putting on their helmets.

"Expecting trouble?" Mereel asked the hunter.

"Two thousand nine was a rough year. I'm just being cautious" He said simply. Omega Squad followed him to a chalk outline on the wall that they had designated the door between worlds. Aquaman and Wonderwoman were putting a razor edge on their weapons, the ODST's looking uncomfortable in civilian clothes and present day body armor. Thomas was checking the sight on an M4 for the thousandth time. Roy Harper was nervously adjusting the quiver on his back and making small talk with Barton. Steve looked calm as ever, but the man never looked nervous.

"Jenn are you going to be okay leaving your patients?" Cooper asked.

"Vale is actually stabilized by some miracle. None of my other patients need immediate attention. Besides you guys have a penchant for getting into trouble when I'm not around."

"We are not bringing up Signus again. That was not my fault!" Cooper laughed. Dean couldn't help but note the very neat writing scrawled on Coopers body armor. On the chest plate scrawled in black writing was the letters JM, LL, and HT. Cooper clearly was still dealing with the recent deaths. Even the people he didn't know that well.

"Alright boys and girls! Let's move it out!" Dean barked. Castiel tapped something on the box and a portal shot up within the chalk outline on the wall. Sam glanced at Dean, he shrugged and stepped through.

 _Elsewhere…._

Thomas came out of the portal in a crouch, rifle aimed ahead of him. The armored bulk of the clone squad was fanned out, spotlamps searching the area ahead of him. The portal had opened in what looked like a derelict house. Cooper set up a radio transponder that according to the tech guys should actually work this time. A light flickered green and Cooper shot Dean a thumbs up.

"Test. Test. Bruce you receiving me?" He keyed the mike.

"Loud and clear." Came the relieved reply.

"That's a god damn relief. We made it. Setting up base camp here. We'll get back to you when we establish contact with Bobby."

"Roger that Dean."

The hunter turned to the rest of his team.

"Alright, Team Two is going to work on securing this place. Barton I need you to go secure transportation. Steve, go figure out where the hell we are. Sam and I are going to go try to find out the date." Dean said. The open window let a cool nighttime breeze into the room. The combat gear, while a smart precaution, didn't exactly lend itself to traveling inconspicuously in the continental United States. The night time was a blessing.

"After that?" Roy Harper was a little miffed that he hadn't be assigned anything.

"Then we go have a talk with a dead friend."


End file.
